My Genealogy Hound

HUGH McINNES was born in Renfrewshire, Scotland, in 1835. His father, John McInnes, was born in the same place in 1806, and was descended from a long line of Highland ancestors, one of whom, Sir Hugh McInnes, was killed in the Second Crusade. He came to America in 1840, settled in Philadelphia, and there started one of the first carpet manufactories in the city, which he operated for some years, subsequently engaging in the lime business, which he followed until his death in 1873. The wife of John McInnes was Martha Hunter, daughter of James and Martha Hunter, who were also natives of Scotland. The children of John and Martha McInnes were: John T.; Hugh (the subject of this sketch) ; Martha, widow of David Dunlap, of Phoenix, Arizona; Mary, wife of Peter Gold, of Philadelphia; Sarah, wife of Thomas Clarke, of Philadelphia; and Annie B., wife of George Snowden, of Philadelphia.

Hugh McInnes was a lad of about five years of age when he came to America with his parents. He was educated in the public schools of Philadelphia, and entered into the business of shipping stone and manufacturing lime in Upper Merion, Montgomery county, and at one time was the largest manufacturer of building and land lime in the eastern part of Pennsylvania; also operating marble quarries in Tredyffrin township, Chester county. In 1879 he, in partnership with Robert P. Dager, of Norristown, Pennsylvania, built and equipped the Rebecca Paper Mill. Mr. Dager retiring in a short time, Mr. McInnes engaged extensively in the making of manila paper and the manufacture of paper bags, continuing until 1902, when he sold the mill and retired. He resides in a handsome residence which he built in 1893, on the corner of DeKalb and Chestnut streets, Norristown.

Mr. McInnes is in politics a Republican, and was a school director, town councilman and treasurer of the borough of Bridgeport, in which he resided for twenty-four years. He is a master Mason, and has been a member of Charity Lodge, No. 190, for more than forty years.

In November, 1861, Mr. McInnes married Miss Rebecca Ovenshine, daughter of Henry Ovenshine, and Mary Jane (Leese) Ovenshine. They have had five children: Henry O., Janet W., Martha H., Mary T., and Helen L. Henry O. and Helen L. died in infancy. Janet W. is the wife of George W. Roberts; they have one daughter, Rebecca McInnes Roberts.

On the paternal side, Mrs. McInnes is descended from Reinhold Abendschon, who came to this country in 1749, and on the maternal side from Nicholas Austen, a Quaker preacher, who came with William Penn in 1682. Mrs. McInnes has been prominent in public and charitable work for the past thirty years. She was treasurer for the Centennial Committee of Montgomery county. She was one of the leaders in the free bridge movement, and was treasurer of the Free Bridge Association; also one of the prime movers in the purchase of Washington’s Headquarters at Valley Forge, and with Mr. and Mrs. William H. Holstein, arranged the price and terms with its then owner, Mrs. Hannah Ogden. She is now regent of the Centennial and Memorial Association of Valley Forge.